Love Is All We Need
by ItsKpex
Summary: Love. The one thing that everyone searches for, the one thing that all of us need. Love is what every person deserves. So, why doesn't Charley get any? Charley has been refused love by his abusive father, so he runs away. Can his two new skeleton friends remind him what love is like? [Rated T for language and possible graphic scenes]
1. Chapter 1

Love. Love is what every person needs, whether it be from their family, their friends, their caretaker. Love and compassion are what people need to grow, to become a better person, to have confidence to go out into society and give these two special things to others. Love is the reassurance to people that they matter, that people want them here, and that they will do anything to keep them safe. However, I never received this so called 'love', not for a long, long time. I haven't even seen any traces of love towards me for as long as I could remember. Ever since my mother passed away when I was the oh so young age of 4 years old, love has completely vanished from my life. My drunken mess of a father could care less about me, usually forgetting to feed me, clothe me, love me, despite all of these years. 8 years have come and gone, me being mistreated by my father has numbed most of my feelings, except for two, sadness and fear. All these years I had lived in fear of making him angry. My dad...no! He's not my dad. At least, not anymore. HE would always beat me if I spoke out of turn, if I asked him for food, water, even love. All I wanted from him is love, but what I received was pain and suffering, and a shell of what my father once was. I want my mom to come back, it's been so long that I've felt love that I forgot what it was like, to have someone who actually cared. I'm just a sad, scared husk of what I once was. I wanted the old me back, the happier me, the energetic me, the loved me.

...

"CHARLEY! GET YOUR DUMB ASS IN HERE!" My dad's raspy voice echoed down the hall of our small, one floor house. I was currently lying silently on my bed, drawing in the sketch pad I had got from my mother before she had died. She told me that when I felt down and depressed, drawing could help me. Over the years, I've gotten quite good at drawing. Putting my pencil down, I closed the sketch pad and put it under my pillow, so my dad doesn't find it. He's taken away everything else from me, and I don't want him to take the last thing I care about. I stood up from my bed, stretching my stiff muscles. I walked towards the door of my very plain room, which had white walls, one window, a twin sized bed, and a lone night stand with a simple lamp. I didn't even have a closet. I kept what little clothes I had under my bed in various piles. I sighed and walked out of my depressing room and into the hallway, quickly walking so I did not anger my father more. When I entered the living room, my father was lounging lazily on the couch, empty beer cans surrounding him, an angry expression across his face.

"WHERE'S MY BEER?" He yelled at me, which made me flinch.

"D-dad, I t-told you that I'm not old e-enough to buy b-beer." I stuttered, trying not to get him angry.

"DID YOU JUST TALK BACK TO ME?" He yelled, standing up. He towered over me, since he was about 6"2 and I was a measly 5"1.

"N-no sir," I took a step back, my eyes widening in fear. Before I knew it, a something hit me across my face, sending me to the ground. As I laid there, holding my stinging face, I received a kick that hit me square in the ribs, causing me to scream out in pain. I heard him huff a breath of frustration before I was yanked up forcefully by my shirt collar.

"I don't want to see you for the rest of the night, do you understand me?" He said with hatred dripping from his voice. I nodded vigorously, not wanting to get hit another time. He dropped me down to the floor, which caused a great deal of pain to wash over me. Despite the excruciating pain I felt, I didn't shed a single tear. Like I had stated before, all these years have numbed all other feelings besides sadness and fear. Pain was something I endured everyday for 8 years. I picked myself up and limped all the way down to my room, making sure to close the wooden door and lock it tight. On the back of my bedroom door was a full body mirror, which was here when we had bought the house. I took off my blue and red striped shirt to inspect the damage done to my body. Besides the red hand print that was left on my right cheek, various bruises and cuts littered my abdomen, the most prominent one is were my father kicked me just a few minutes ago. I touched where said bruise was and I hissed in pain.

"Definitely some broken ribs there." I told myself, slightly happy that I was used to pain at this point. I put my shirt back on, groaning because of my most recent injury. I looked in the mirror, the mark on my face slowly turning into a bruise. I then took notice of how disheveled I actually looked. My dark brown hair was sticking up in different directions, grease evident in it as well. My once bright hazel eyes were now dull and lifeless, which scared me a bit. How did I let my asshole father treat me like this? Why am I still here with him? I can't take the constant pain and suffering anymore! I have to get away from this awful place, away from him. My mom wanted me to be happy and safe, but I'm not getting those things here. I want to leave. No, I NEED to leave.

I walked towards the corner of my room, where my backpack lay. It was an old, raggedy, simple black backpack, with the logo of my favorite football team, the Packers. After years of using it, it looked like it was about the to fall apart. There were holes if various sizes all over it, none of them big enough to have anything important falling out of it though. I grabbed it from the corner, bringing it over to my bed. I dragged all of my clothes that I owned, which wasn't a lot by the way, from under my bed, quickly stuffing them into one of the sections of the backpack. I reached onto my nightstand and grabbed my phone, which was an old flip phone that looked like it was from the early 2000s. It's not as fancy as the phones now, but I'm still thankful for it. I stuffed the small device into my pocket, making sure that it was secure. I was about to zip up the bag when I realized I forgot something. I quickly grabbed the pillow, throwing it haphazardly across the room, revealing the sketchbook I had put there previously. I grabbed it, a wave of memories rushed into my mind. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and shoved it into my bag. I zipped it and slung the bag over my shoulder, taking a look around this room for the last time. This room was my safe haven for the past 8 years, but now I will be able to get my freedom I've always deserved. I can't risk getting caught, so I eyed my window.

"I have to go through there." I told myself, walking up to my only exit. I opened it slowly, letting the cool night air hit me. I stealthily climbed out of the window, making sure to close the window back up. I walked down the path beside my house, approaching the gate that leads to the street. I opened it and stepped out. Before I could stop it, the gate closed with a loud clanging sound. Fearing for my life at this point, I darted right and took off down the dark street. There were no street lights around this part of town, which is never thought I'd be more grateful for. I heard the squeaking of the screen door to my house, which meant that my dad must've went outside to investigate. This only made me run even faster, faster than I thought I could run. I kept running until I got closer to the center of town, street lights now lining the area. I saw a few people walking down the sidewalk, some of which were monsters. Monsters had started to integrate into the city little by little ever since last year, but I just considered them as normal people. Me of all people shouldn't judge people by what's on the outside, I was taught that everyone should deserve love and kindness. As I was thinking about all this, I accidentally ran into something hard, which tipped over and fell with a large bang. I looked to see that I had run into a garbage can, and with my luck, it was a metal one. The impact of the garbage can made my ribs start to hurt, causing horrible pain throughout my body. I fell to the ground, holding my injured ribs. My legs started to ache from all of the running I did. I easily ran about 10 blocks without stopping, which was surprising. I wanted to get up and run again, but my body didn't allow me to. I looked to the house that was in front of me, hearing the front door open, the porch light turning on. I tried to stand up, but excruciating pain made me fall back down. I looked back towards the house, only to see someone walking towards me. As they got closer, I was able to make out what they looked like. It was a skeleton, donning a blue hoodie, black shorts, and pink fuzzy slippers. If I wasn't in so much pain, I probably would've questioned his clothes.

"What're you doing here, kid?" The skeleton asked, the pinpricks of light in his eye sockets examining me.

"Oh god, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! Please don't hurt me!" I tried to stand up, which only caused me to fall back to the ground, letting out a yelp of pain.

"Don't worry, kid. I won't hurt ya." The skeleton said, offering me a hand. At first I didn't trust him, but then I remembered that most monsters didn't have any bad intentions. I grabbed his bony hand, which was surprisingly warm. He yanked me up a little harder than expected, causing me to groan in pain again. The pain I felt right now was enough to cause a few stray tears to roll down my face, to which the skeleton noticed.

"You hurting that bad? Cmon, I'll fix you up." The skeleton said. We walked towards the house, which was about the same size of mine. The skeleton opened the front door, revealing a decent sized living room, that contained a couch, a tv, and a chair in the corner. On said couch was another skeleton, wearing what looked to be armor and a red scarf.

"SANS, WHAT WAS OUT THE-?" The other skeleton cut his sentence short when he spotted me. "WHO IS THAT?"

"I found him outside, and he's hurt. Go get the first aid kit in the bathroom." The skeleton, which I just figured out was named Sans, told the other skeleton, who nodded and raced off to what I assumed was the bathroom. Sans walked me over to the couch, which I slowly managed to sit on. Sans looked at me with a worried expression on his face, which was weird because he was, y'know, a skeleton.

"Where's the pain at?" He asked me, scanning my body.

"My ribs, mostly." I told him, the pain getting worse. The other skeleton came in, bandages and other various medical supplies in his arms. He handed a tube of pain relieving cream to Sans, who thanked him. He lifted up my shirt, only to gasp when he saw the giant bruise on my ribs, which looked a lot worse than before.

"Kid, are you sure you don't want to go to a hospital? That looks pretty serious." Sans asked me, which struck me with fear. If I went to the hospital, if be forced to go back to my dad. I quickly shook my head.

"N-no, I'm fine. I just need to rest for a minute." I assured the two of them, who exchanged looks of uncertainty.

"ARE YOU SURE, HUMAN?" The other skeleton asked, to which I nodded. Sans put some of the pain relieving cream on his hand and rubbed it on the giant bruise on my ribs, which made me wince in pain. After he was done, I lowered my shirt, the pain beginning to subside. Sans picked up the medical supplies and walked back to the bathroom, leaving just me and the other skeleton.

"I'M SORRY, HUMAN. I DO NOT BELIEVE I CAUGHT YOUR NAME." He asked me, holding out his hand to shake. I grabbed it gently and smiled weakly.

"C-Charley," I told him, to which he smiled.

"I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND MY BROTHER'S NAME IS SANS." He introduced him and his brother. 'Heh, they're named after fonts.' I let out a long yawn, fatigue finally catching up to me.

"ARE YOU TIRED? YOU CAN SLEEP ON THE COUCH IF YOU WOULD LIKE." Papyrus offered.

"Are you sure? I don't want to burden you." I asked, unsure about me being in these two skeletons' house in the first place.

"NONSENSE, YOU JUST GET ALL THE REST YOU NEED." Papyrus said with a smile. I was still unsure about the whole situation, afraid that they would try something. But, I've pretty much been to hell and back, so I think I can handle them.

...

~hey guys! Thanks for reading the first chapter of my new story! If you want me to continue, please show me some feedback, which is always appreciated. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

"H-hello?" I asked, seeing if anyone answered back. The only response I got was the echoing of my voice. Darkness was the only thing I could see, which made me wonder where I was. I looked behind me and saw a figure in the distance, surrounded by the vast blackness. My footsteps echoed as I started the trek towards the mysterious figure. As I moved closer, I realized that the figure was a woman. Even closer, I noticed that she had light brown hair, that went down to the middle of her back, hazel eyes, and she was wearing a white gown. My eyes widened as recognition overcame my senses.

"M-mom?" I saw her smile and open her arms to me, seeming to want a hug. I ran to her, wrapping my arms around her. I never wanted to let go, I wanted to be happy again. Happy with her.

"I love you, Charley." I heard her soft, angelic voice tell me. All of a sudden, her body started turning to dust. Her legs started turning to dust, blowing away like there was a large gust of wind. I looked at her with a look of shock and horror, to only see that she only had a calm smile.

"It's okay, my son. I will always be with you," she said, not even worrying that her body was slowly blowing away.

"No, I don't want to lose you again! Please!" I tried to hug her tighter, but she was ashes up to her waist now, slowly getting higher by the second. Tears started flowing down my cheeks, I finally let my bottled up emotions go. Before she completely turned to dust, she planted a kiss on my forehead, wrapping her arms around me. I felt her arms dissipate, the dust of her once solid body getting all over my shirt. I looked down at my hands, which were covered with the grayish substance. I balled my fists in sorrow and anger, upset that my only happiness was taken from me, tears were still flowing down my face.

"Why? Why? WHY?"

...

I shot up, my eyes trying to adjust to the darkness of the room I was in. I was drenched in sweat, tear stains were on my face. Panic started to rise up on me, not remembering where I was at first. I calmed myself, the memories of the previous night flooded my mind. I ran away. I ran away from him. I escaped that hellhole of a place, but now I'm the burden of two more people. 'How can you be so selfish?' I mentally scolded myself. 'You just made yourself at home in these nice skeletons' house, and you didn't even bother to thank them. You're a horrible person.' I was too busy scolding myself that I didn't notice a certain short skeleton come into the room.

"Hey kid, you okay? You look like something 'rattled your bones'." He gave me a smirk, to which I responded with a sad smile and a chuckle.

"Y-yeah, I'm good." My smile soon faltered, my previous mental scolding coming into mind once more. "Thanks for helping me, but I think I should get going. I've bothered you two more than enough." I said, standing up. I pulled out my small flip phone to check the time, which read 7:35 am.

"You weren't bothering us, kiddo. But, if you need to go, I guess I'll see you around." Sans told me as he held out his hand. I gave him a smile and shook his outstretched appendage. I grabbed my backpack from the couch, carelessly swinging it over my shoulder. I walked to the door and opened it, feeling the cool, early morning air hit me. I closed the door back up, shivering at the temperature change. I reached the sidewalk and started walking, not too sure on where I wanted to go, or where I could go.

3 Days Later...

[Sans' POV]

I haven't seen that kid since he came to our house a few days ago. Papyrus said that his name was Charley, which was nice to know, since he didn't tell me. Papyrus got worried when he didn't see Charley the next morning. He said that he wanted to make another friend, but now he couldn't. I told him that we'll see him again, and that he shouldn't worry. I worry about that kid. I could see a lot of hidden pain behind those hazel eyes of his. Not to mention how he had that nightmare when he was on the couch. He kept talking in his sleep about his mom, and yelling why. I wanted to ask him about it, but he seemed that he had somewhere to be. I just wonder where he is now.

"SANS! CAN YOU GO DOWN TO THE MARKET AND GET SOME MORE SPAGHETTI NOODLES?" I heard Papyrus yell from our kitchen. I groaned and sank further into the couch, my famous laziness taking over me.

"Why can't you go get it, Paps?" I yelled back. Papyrus emerged from the kitchen, a white chef's hat in his head.

"BECAUSE SANS! I NEED TO TEND TO THE STOVE FOR RIGHT NOW." Papyrus crossed his arms, not seeming to be in the mood to argue with me.

"I can watch it for you, bro." I told him, hoping to get out of walking the oh so long 2 blocks to the store.

"SANS, LAST TIME I LEFT YOU ALONE WITH THE STOVE YOU ALMOST BURNT THE HOUSE DOWN!" Papyrus started tapping his foot in annoyance, which made me believe that he wasn't gonna change his mind.

"Okay, okay. I'll go. Don't get your armor in a twist." I said, getting up and stretching my bones. I opened the door and walked out, the sun beaming in the sky. Good thing I can't feel the heat, or I'd be cooking in this hoodie. I counted the cracks in the sidewalk as I walked towards the shop, taking my time. As I neared the shop, I heard someone coughing in the alleyway. Curious about who made the noise, I cautiously walked down the alley, and what I saw shocked me.

"Charley?" I asked myself, eyeing the sleeping figure next to some trashcans. 'I thought the kid had somewhere to go.' I walked up to him, quiet so I didn't wake him. He was laying on his backpack, using newspaper to cover himself up. 'Did he not have a home?' I bent down and picked him up, careful not to wake him up. I can't just leave him here. I quickly teleported home, landing in my room. I placed the kid on the bed, to which he immediately clutched the blanket that was messily put onto it. He seemed so peaceful, which I never saw him be before. Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I went downstairs to tell Papyrus the news. I saw him watching over his pot of almost completed spaghetti, tapping his foot with impatience. He turned around right as I entered the room, seeming to sense my presence.

"BROTHER! WHERE ARE THE NOODLES? I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, NEED NOODLES TO FINISH MY MASTERPIECE!" He proclaimed, seeming annoyed that I didn't get them.

"Sorry bro, but I found something that might be more important than pasta." I told him, which made his expression change right away.

"WHAT DID YOU FIND?" Papyrus asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"I found the kid, Charley, sleeping in an alleyway. I don't think he has a home. So, I brought him here." I said, the image of the poor kid laying in the alley popping up in my head once again.

"Oh dear, is he okay?" Papyrus seemed genuinely worried, quieting his tone.

"Yeah, he's fine. He's sleeping in my room now. We have to be quiet, okay Paps?" I told him, the kid needed his rest. Who knows what he's been through. Papyrus nodded, but seemed to just remember something.

"WHERE- er, sorry. Where are my noodles!" Papyrus asked, remembering the spaghetti pot on the stove.

"Don't worry, I'll go get some okay, bro." I assured him. I wanted to teleport to the store and back, but teleporting home took a lot out of me. Man, I really need to get more in shape. I sighed and started my trek towards the store again.

...[Charley's POV]...

'Why do I feel so comfortable? What am I laying on, and why is it so soft?' I asked myself. The memories of where I fell asleep came into my mind. I passed out in an alleyway near a supermarket, not caring who saw me. But, where I was at now didn't feel like the cold hard ground I was asleep on. My eyes snapped open, and I found myself in a bedroom, one that I didn't recognize. Fear and confusion was that the only emotions that registered in my mind. 'Where am I?' I asked myself, looking around. It was really messy, and I mean really messy. It looked like a sea of dirty clothes on the floor, garbage was thrown everywhere. I mean, if I was able to leave my room messy, I would. I'm not gonna judge. But right now, I was too scared out of my mind to even think straight. The door across the room opened slightly, a skeleton's head popping in. It was Sans.

"Hey kid, you're up." He said to me, fully entering the room.

"H-how did I get here?" I asked, freaked out by the fact that I got back to his house without remembering a thing.

"I brought ya here." Sans walked over and sat on the bedside, a look of worry on his face. "Why didn't you tell us you don't have a home?" My eyes widened in shock. He, this random person I met the previous night, cares about me? More than my dad ever had?

"I...didn't think you guys would, I don't know, care." I explained, confused by Sans' kindness. It was weird to receive more kindness at once than the past 8 years combined.

"Why wouldn't I care. I'm not going to let a kid live out on the streets, knowing that I could've helped." He explained to me, which surprised me even more. He cares about me, he actually does.

"Anyway, my brother made dinner if you want some." Sans asked me, to which I shook my head.

"N-no, I'm fine." I told him, still weary about the whole situation. He nodded his head and stood up, sticking his hands in his blue hoodie's pockets.

"Just tell me if you want anything, okay kiddo?" He looked at me, the pinpricks of light in his sockets looking at me.

"Okay." I nodded. Sans gave me a smile and walked out of the room, closing the door behind him, leaving me alone to my thoughts.

'Is this what I've been missing out on?'

...

~hey guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter of my story. Sorry if it took longer than usual, I have a bad habit of procrastinating...a lot. But that's besides the point. If you want me to continue, please leave any sort of feedback, as it is always appreciated. Thanks!


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